For the first time in our province’s history, an Initiative Petition was successful as more than 700,000 British Columbians showed their determination to stop the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). In my constituency alone, many thousands of people signed the petition, and I was proud to be one of the volunteer canvassers who worked on that effort.
From the first days of the BC Liberals’ announcement that they were breaking their promise not to implement a HST, my office has been flooded with calls and emails from constituents who are absolutely opposed to this tax.
As you know, you will shortly be receiving a referendum ballot in the mail asking you whether or not you are in favour of extinguishing the HST. I believe the majority of British Columbians will vote ‘Yes’.
There has been a great deal of talk about ‘fixing’ the HST. Premier Christy Clark and her government have made the decision to stake their political futures on whether or not the people of British Columbia will be fooled by her promises of rebates and rate reductions.
These promised ‘fixes’ do not deal with the fact that the HST was brought in under false pretences. The BC Liberals campaigned on their promise that they would not implement an HST. They broke that promise.
Now they are promising a rebate and rate reduction, but in order to partially fund these new promises, they’ve had to break previous promises of tax cuts. This is a government that clearly cannot be trusted.
And it is also a government that is not capable of managing the books. If the government were to proceed with these rebates and rate cuts, we would see a massive hole in the provincial government. Arguments that we can’t cancel the HST because we can’t afford to give back the $1.6 billion to the federal government become moot if the cost of ‘fixes’ are so much greater.
The HST, both the current version and proposed version, still constitutes a massive shift of taxation away from large corporations and on to the backs of average residents. And it no longer allows British Columbians to make tax policy for themselves.
As we prepare to vote in the HST referendum, we need to remember how we came to be in this place. It is only because of the strong voice of regular British Columbians showing their opposition to the HST that we are getting this opportunity to make this decision.
I will be honouring the determination of so many British Columbians, and I will be voting ‘Yes’ to scrap the HST.
If you’ve watched TV or opened a newspaper over the last number of weeks, you’ve seen the ads attempting to sell you on the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). More than $5 million worth of those ads were purchased using your tax dollars; using your money to convince you to vote against your best interest.
And then there are the Smart Tax Alliance ads, paid for by the big corporations that get the most benefit from the HST. Under the HST, corporations pay less tax, and you pay more. Of course, they want you to vote to keep it.
So, do you believe the ads when they tell you that voting for the HST will save you money? Do you believe the BC Liberals and the big corporations who are desperate to save the HST?
I believe that the HST referendum is about more than just a tax. It is a question of trust. And it is an opportunity for us to send a very strong message to a government that has lost touch with the voters it is supposed to work for.
The BC Liberals were elected in 2009 based on the promise that they would not bring in the HST. They broke that promise.
The BC Liberals were forced to hold this referendum on the HST by the more than 700,000 British Columbians who signed the Initiative Petition to get rid of the HST. You are not being asked your opinion on this matter because the government cares what you think.
You are being asked because they had no choice but to ask.
Now the BC Liberals are promising to ‘fix’ the HST with rebates and rate reductions, but we already know just how much a BC Liberal promise is worth.
This is our one chance to make our voices heard. This is our chance to demand a higher standard from government. If we allow this government to continue to fool us, we are saying that misleading the public is okay.
So when you receive your HST ballot in the mail, ask yourself this question: Do the BC Liberals deserve our trust?
Send a strong message. Vote ‘Yes’ to scrap the HST.